HD Video: Richt's Weekly Wednesday Presser

"Wednesday's in the books. No more hitting this week until Saturday. Thought we got in what we needed to get in. Thought we had a couple good days. Yesterday was an especially good. Today was not quite what it was yesterday, but we still made improvements, so that was good. Got it in. Got it done.

If you want to know about Abry, Abry won't play this week. That's all I've been asked to say at this point. You might have information other places, but from me, I've been asked to just let everyone know he's not playing this week."

Q: Has it been more intense since Shawn's comments?

Richt: We had good practices.

Q: Did Jay Rome come back to practice?

Richt: Jay practiced today. He didn't practice the whole time, but he got the scout work. He's going to be able to play in the game.

Q: Will we see more of Richard Samuel this week considering how well he's played against Florida?

Richt: Not at the tailback position. We've got our rotation right now, and I doubt it will change much. Although Richard is always ready to play tailback or the fullback for that matter. He's been playing some special teams for us as well.

Q: Do you think he could provide help in pass protection?

Richt: I think our backs have protected pretty well as of late. Early in the year, we missed a couple, but lately I think our backs have protected pretty good. Richard is a pretty good protector though.

Q: Do you look at last year's game and think of Richard Samuel?

Richt: Yeah, we watched the film too. You watch the film and see he did a very nice job. A lot of it had to do with the score of the game and trying to finish the game in a physical way. We thought we were running the ball well at the end. The last drive that took the lead we ran a lot of power plays in that drive, and that's something that Richard is very good at, especially when there's a crease. When there's a crease he's going to hit it and be very physical. I thought he did a good job.

Q: Are y'all keeping an eye on the tropical storm?

Richt: We've been hearing about it. It's getting a lot closer to the game. What have you guys heard as of late?...We've been hearing 22 miles per hour winds. That's a lot of wind. That does affect a game, I think, more than rain. I've been in some games where the winds totally changed the game. If it's a crosswind, it's probably even more of an issue than if it's in your face or behind you. Even then, there's issues with that. If it's going sideways or swirling around it wreaks havoc on any kind of long balls, any kind of field goals. It is problematic, so we'll see. Hopefully it changes course.

Q: Is Ray Drew ready?

Richt: He better be because he's going to play. Yeah, I think he is. He's played some. Just in a pecking order and he hasn't gotten many snaps. He's going to get a bunch of snaps this game. I'm looking forward to see what he does.

Q: Recently, Ken Malcolme has come in late in games. Do you view him as a late-game back?

Richt: We like Ken in what you call a four minute drill, when you're trying to burn clock. Usually at that point in the game, he's fresher than the other two. He's a very good downhill runner. As you observe him, he's usually always getting yards after contact. Even when nothing's there, he seems to be pushing the pile and finishing runs, and he's done a good job of securing the football. Those are things you want at that time of the game. Not that the other two backs couldn't do that. Gurley is made for that as well, but Ken was doing well so we kept him in there.

Q: On offense, is there an equivalent to a Shawn Williams, a fiery guy?

Richt: Aaron is that. I think the two senior receivers do a real nice job—TK and Marlon. Artie Lynch does a nice job. Offensively, there's just a lot of guys that enjoy football and enjoy the success they've had. They haven't had success every game, of course. South Carolina wasn't very exciting offensively. The other games there have been some really good things happen. When you're moving the ball, and scoring points, it's just fun to play offensive football. It's fun to practice. They've had really good morale and good attitude.

Q: Does the offense take on the personality of the quarterback?

Richt: Not always. Like, when Ben Jones was here, Ben was the guy. He might have been some of that as a freshman. He was just that kind of guy. There's certain times when someone besides the quarterback takes the lead. Sometimes it's just the personality of the quarterback. I think everybody feeds off the quarterback, especially game day. If he's playing well and you look in his eyes and he looks like he's confident and he's under control and he's doing the things you need him to do to win, I think everyone feeds off of him.

Q: Is Jarvis Jones going to make an impact like he did when he was healthy?

Richt: I hope so. He's going to play unless something happens between now and then. I know he's going to be excited about getting in there and trying to help us win. I know he had a big game a year ago. I'm sure he'd love to have another one, but it's a little bit different style of offense. We know Brantley really wasn't moving around that good. It wasn't like it was tough to chase him down when you got there. Driskell is much more mobile and much more physical, especially since he's healthy compared to what Brantley was a year ago. I think Jarvis just wants to win. I think he came back to Georgia because he wanted to win, he wanted to improve and he wanted to play in a game like this one. I'm sure he's excited about playing.

Q: Is it a little strange to be coaching against a Florida team with a running game as opposed to a passing game?

Richt: There's a little different style. I think the greatest Florida teams and Georgia teams have had really good defense. And I think this Florida defense is an outstanding defense. The philosophy of defense, kicking and just hammering the football unless they make us do something different—that's a little bit different than some of the Florida teams in the past.

Q: Does it remind you of LSU last year?

Richt: Oh yeah, very much. That's definitely LSU's formula. Defense, special teams and pound the ball and be patient. In time, be able to physically take over the game. That's the way LSU's been trying to do it. Alabama has been trying to do it that way. Florida is modeling their game after that as well.

Q: UF hasn't turned the ball over 10 quarters. With it being one of the most physical weeks of practice, has that been a point of emphasis—to create turnovers?

Richt: Yes. It's that way every week. We had some things to show them, just statistically. We found some that had the top 12 teams in America. The top 12 in turnover ratio and their record was 87-5 or something like that. The worst record of any of those teams was 6-1. That was teams with +9 and above in turnover ratio. Everyone of them was either undefeated or 6-1. That's a pretty telling statistic. That's just one of the things we made mention of. We actually showed a little video of the turnovers that happened last week in the Florida-South Carolina game. The results kind of back-to-back turnover, touchdown. There were four turnovers in the first half and there was actually another fumble that South Carolina got on that could've made it even worse. When you talk about momentum in big games, that's the most devastating momentum against you, when you turn it over. You lose field position, you usually give up points, and you give up momentum. If you gain that turnover, the same thing. You're stealing possession from them. You don't have to worry about them punting the ball. You get that field position and hopefully turn that into points, which really gives you a lot of momentum. That's what you're looking for.